General Electric Company

David Leonard Mueller

Homer H Glascock, Ii

Constantine A Neugebauer

Harold F Webster

Dante E Piccone

Fadel A Selim

A hermetically sealed package for a power semiconductor wafer is provided comprising substantially entirely silicon materials selected to have coefficients of thermal expansion closely matching that of the power semiconductor wafer. A semiconductor wafer such as a power diode comprises a layer of silicon material having first and second device regions on respective sides thereof. An electrically conductive cap and base, each including a layer of silicon material, are disposed in electrical contact with the first and second regions of the semiconductor device, respectively. An electrically insulative sidewall of silicon material surrounds the semiconductor wafer, is spaced from an edge thereof, and is bonded to the cap and base for hermetically sealing the package. An electrical passivant is disposed on an edge of the semiconductor wafer adjoining the first and second device regions for preventing electrical breakdown between the cap and base. An arc suppressant is disposed within the package between the semiconductor wafer edge and the sidewall for preventing electrical arcing between the base and cap.

Silicon packages for power semiconductor devices

A semiconductor rectifier assembly comprises first and second electroconductive posts having portions between which a semiconductor body is sandwiched under pressure. A sealed housing for the semiconductor body comprises said posts, a hollow cylindrical insulator surrounding said semiconductor body and said post portions, and sealing means at opposite ends of the insulator for respectively forming seals between said posts and the ends of the insulator. The sealing means at one end of the insulator comprises a pair of annular metal flanges joined together at their outer peripheries. One flange is bonded adjacent its inner periphery to the insulator and the other is bonded adjacent its inner periphery to the adjacent post. A thin annular disc of electrical insulating material has a first portion adjacent its outer periphery disposed between said flanges and a second portion located radially inwardly of the first portion extending between the inner periphery of the insulator and the adjacent post. The insulating disc, when exposed to an electric arc, evolves gases that oppose motion of the arc terminal onto the metal flanges, thereby protecting the flanges from being burned through or otherwise perforatd by the arc.

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Media, PA, United States of America

David Leonard Mueller